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Florida proposal pleasing to GOP's eyes

Don Gaetz called redistricting the most 'transparent and interactive process in Florida history.' |
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“We’re not supposed to be talking about political parties and incumbents, but with this map somebody must have been thinking about political parties and incumbents,” Rich said.

The Times/Herald analysis also found that the congressional map includes five seats with no sitting incumbent, including a new Central Florida-based seat of 40 percent of whose voters will be Hispanic. A second new district, which encompasses the Republican Central Florida stronghold of The Villages, includes the home of U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns of Ocala.

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The proposed map redrawing the state Senate boundaries includes 12 districts with no incumbent and 27 districts in which incumbents are shifted to represent new areas. Sen. Jack Latvala, for example, was drawn out of his current South Pinellas district and moved into a district representing North Pinellas, a region Latvala previously represented when he was in the state Senate from 1994 to 2002.

If the Senate proposal holds, a few sitting congressmen would have to find new housing, the Times/Herald analysis found.

The map would put Democrat Alcee Hastings of Miramar in the same district as Republican David Rivera of Doral. It moves Republican Daniel Webster of Orlando into the same sprawling, eight-county minority-majority district as Democrat Corrine Brown. It also pits Republican Reps. John Mica of Winter Park against Sandy Adams of Orlando.

The congressional map also offers some advantages to Republicans who are not incumbents. For example, the proposed 5th Congressional District north of Tampa, currently represented by Richard Nugent, a freshman Republican from Spring Hill, would become more compact. Instead of encompassing eight counties, including all of Hernando and most of Pasco, the new district would take in all of Pasco and most of Hernando, thereby favoring a Pasco County-based candidate.

The county’s longest-serving legislator, Republican Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, is interested in a possible congressional run in 2012, when he will be forced to leave the Legislature because of term limits.

Few expect the maps to be the final versions. State senators have until the end of this week to propose changes to the map, and the state House will be proposing its own versions of the maps, as well. The Senate will vote on the proposed maps Dec. 6, and the public may submit comments by contacting the committee through Facebook, calling 850-487-5757, e-mailing RedistrictFlorida@flsenate.gov, sending a tweet to @Redistrict2012 or posting video feedback on the committee’s YouTube page at www.youtube.com/SenateRedistricting.

Mary Ellen Klas is a staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times. POLITICO is partnering with the Times for coverage of the 2012 election cycle. Times/Miami Herald staff writers Steve Bousquet and Darla Cameron contributed to this report.

This won't pass the courts. Floridians passed the constitutional amendment in November because the voters know the Republicans can't be trusted to draw fair districts. Rick Scott and the Republican legislature are extremely unpopular and they are trying to rig the districts so they can't be voted out of office.

Why are Republicans and Democrats so proud of their gerrymandering people out of their vote. Be it Texas, Florida, Illinois or any other state, it is just wrong to determine elections with gerrymandering ensuring the results prior to the first vote being cast. We don't have fair elections in this country, we tout that and yet elections are decided behind closed doors with a pen and a map. If something is against the voting rights act, this should be it. Our elections are in reality no better than those in the USSR when Stalin and Khruchev ruled. Like everything else in this nation, it is always party over country, party over fairness, party, party, party. Democrats complain about Florida but celebrate Illinois. and vice versa. Each party wants the election to be as unfair and stacked against the other party as possible.

On March 19, 1997, investigators from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities in El Paso and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company.[20]

Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Scott to resign as Chairman and CEO.[21] He was paid $9.88 million in a settlement. He also left owning 10 million shares of stock worth over $350 million.[22][23][24]

In 1999, Columbia/HCA changed its name back to HCA, Inc.

In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA plead guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in the largest fraud settlement in US history. Columbia/HCA admitted systematically overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable, by striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and by filing false data about use of hospital space. They also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors "loans" never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.[4][5][6][7][8]

In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims.[25] In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.[26]

Scott is a crook, and look to his former company to see why health insurance is a ripoff, and why costs are so high.

Obviously the Fair Districts Amendment that was just passed by over 63% was completely ignored. The Dems have a 500k registered voter edge on the GOP in Florida and yet, they gerrymander congressional districts the same if not worse than before the Fair districts Amendment passed. The RPOF had their chance to follow the Florida state constitution and chose to disregard it. See you in court Neo-Cons.